Camp Quality moving summer camp from Camp Daggett to Lake Ann

Continued growth has prompted organizers of Camp Quality, a well-known summer camp for children with cancer, to move the camp from Charlevoix County’s Camp Daggett to Lake Ann in Benzie County.

BOYNE CITY — Continued growth has prompted organizers of a well-known summer camp for children with cancer to move the camp from Charlevoix County’s Camp Daggett to Lake Ann in Benzie County.

Eleanor West, executive director of Boyne City-based Camp Quality Michigan said camp organizers made the decision to move the summer camp to the Lake Ann Camp and Retreat Center located west of Traverse City because there just isn’t enough space at Camp Daggett for the increasing number of campers the summer camp session has been drawing.

She said the camp drew 68 kids in 2008 and 71 in 2009, continuing a trend of growth that has been going on since the first camp 23 years ago. She explained that, because of their medical needs, each camper comes to camp with at least one companion. And with Camp Daggett’s camper capacity at 120 (not counting the lodge), finding a bed for everyone was becoming a problem.

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She added that with the continued growth in Camp Daggett’s programs, finding a week to schedule the camp was also becoming more difficult.

For its first seven years, Camp Quality hosted its summer camp at Park of the Pines on Boyne City-Charlevoix Road until growth prompted the move to Camp Daggett 15 years ago. Three years ago organizers started a second summer camp in the Fenton area.

West said the move to Lake Ann will ease the workload on volunteers because that camp provides food and cleaning, and other staff services. She added that the Lake Ann facility will be easier to navigate for campers with limited mobility.

“It will really simplify things,” West said. “We won’t have to worry about bringing in food or worry about clean-up.”

Despite all the reasons for the move, West said Camp Daggett served the organization very well over the years and organizers are grateful for all of the volunteers — including many local service clubs — that helped out with the camp.

“It was a hard decision to make,” West said. “It took quite a while to make, but we kept coming back to what’s best for the kids and the volunteers.”

West said that despite the change in camp locations, the organization’s headquarters will remain in Boyne City. West added that she’s confident that the move won’t affect the long-standing charitable support that the organization has enjoyed from people and organizations in the area.

This year’s north camp at Lake Ann will take place from Aug. 11-15.

To learn more about Camp Quality Michigan, visit www.campqualitymi.org.